Archaeology

Archaeology terms and what they mean

What is archaeology? 

Archaeology is the study of ancient cultures through examining the materials that the people left behind.  Archaeologists learn a lot about the past by investigating cultural items, (pottery, clothing, decorative, and ceremonial materials) and site features (fire pits, trash or shell middens and work sites, such as flint manufacturing).

Is it “archaeology” or “archeology”? 

“Archaeology” is widely used in English-speaking countries. “Archeology” is used primarily in the United States.  Either spelling is correct. (Compare with Palaeontology versus Paleontology, which is used in the UK and United States, respectively.)

What’s up with the letters behind the dates? 

In the past archaeologists have dated things using the letters:  “B.C.” which stands for ‘before Christ’ and “A.D.”, an abbreviation of Anno Domini which refers to ‘after Christ’s birth.’ Most archaeologists use the more socially acceptable form: “C. E.”, which means the ‘Common Era’ and “B.C.E.”, which means ‘Before the Common Era.’  Both sets of terms are interchangeable and refer to the exact same dates. There is no year ‘0.’

What is considered proper? “Indian”, or “Native American”, or “American Indian”?

All three are problematic. Ever since Columbus thought he had landed in the “Indies” native people of both continents have been called “Indians.”  Many tribal groups use “Native American” or “American Indian” but some do not. It is always best to refer to groups of people by their tribal affiliation, or nation name: Cherokee, Shawnee, Miami, Mayans and Aztecs.

Prehistoric archaeology covers the period before written records so archaeologists assign names to these periods and prehistoric people, for example: Archaic, Woodland, Adena, Fort Ancient.

Anthropologists use the terms indigenous and aboriginal.

Which is correct: “arrowhead” or “projectile point”? 

“Projectile point” is preferred because true arrowheads were made and used only after the bow and arrow were developed.  They are much smaller which allowed them to fly farther. True arrowheads are very small (<1” or 2.5 cm), while spear-type points vary widely in size. Prior to the arrowhead, stone projectiles were spear-like. They were either thrown by hand (attached to spears to stab something) or using the atlatl – a spear thrower. They were also used as knives and scrapers.

Why do the dates/time periods overlap?  

Dating is a precise science which determines a range of time, so time periods can overlap depending on the dating method used. There are many different dating methods such as: dendro-chronology (tree ring dating), radio-carbon dating (using carbon from campfires or other burned materials), and typology (where different types of pottery, for example, are compared and have been separated into time and area categories).

Is it a pottery “sherd” or is it a pottery “shard”?  

The term “shard” is used to describe a piece or fragment of a brittle substance like glass and the term “sherd” is commonly used to describe fragments of pottery.

Created July 25, 2011